That you were once unkind befriends me now,
And for that sorrow which I then did feel
Needs must I under my transgression1 bow,
Unless my nerves were brass2 or hammer'd steel.
For if you were by my unkindness shaken
As I by yours, you've pass'd a hell of time,
And I, a tyrant3, have no leisure taken
To weigh how once I suffered in your crime.
O, that our night of woe4 might have remember'd
My deepest sense, how hard true sorrow hits,
And soon to you, as you to me, then tender'd
The humble5 slave which wounded bosoms6 fits!
But that your trespass7 now becomes a fee;
Mine ransoms9 yours, and yours must ransom8 me.

你對我狠過心反而于我有利：
想起你當時使我遭到的痛創(chuàng)，
我只好在我的過失下把頭低，
既然我的神經不是銅或精鋼。
由于，你若受過我狠心的搖撼，
像我所受的，該熬過多苦的日子！
可是我這暴君從沒抽過閑
來衡量你的罪行對我的打擊！
哦，但愿大家那悲怛之夜能使我
牢牢記住真悲哀打擊得多慘，
我就會立刻遞給你，像你遞給我，
那撫慰碎了的心的微賤藥丹。
但你的罪行目前變成了保證，
我贖你的罪，你也贖我的敗行。